Indiana Hoosiers guard Al Durham (1) drives to the basket against Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Jacob Young (42) in the first half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Best Indiana Men’s Basketball Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 9 Al Durham

Originally posted on Indiana Hoosiers on SI
By Todd Golden | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 9:16 AM ET

When you think of Aljami “Al” Durham. you think of effort.

He attacked the basket with abandon. He put effort into his defense. If nothing else, he was going to get some floor burns along the way.

That effort was often a necessity as the Indiana teams that Durham played for were below average by program standard. Durham played at Indiana from 2017-21, and try though he might, the Hoosiers could not lift themselves to NCAA Tournament status during his time in Bloomington.

Durham originally signed for Tom Crean before Crean was let go after the 2017 season. Durham, a Georgia native, decided to keep his commitment to new coach Archie Miller.

Durham ascended to a starting role by his sophomore season in 2018-19. By the time the 2020s rolled around, he was an established starter.

Durham never stopped improving with the Hoosiers, even if he never reached a star level. His scoring average went up each season with a final single-season scoring average of 11.3 points in 2021.

While the scoring went up, the shooting efficiency did drop in his final season. Durham converted 44.1% of his shots in 2020, a season in which the Hoosiers might have made it to the NCAA Tournament had COVID-19 not intervened. Durham just didn’t shoot the same volume of shots in 2020 as he did in 2021 when he fell to converting 38.8%.

Durham could often make up for any shooting slumps with reliability at the free throw line as he was an 80% shooter in his 2020s seasons.

Durham was also a decent passer – he averaged 2.5 assists in his 2020s seasons with the Hoosiers – and he rated as a solid defender by advanced metrics standards.

All of his best career performances occurred in 2020s seasons. He scored a career-high 24 points in a 2021 double overtime win over Northwestern – and he was 11 of 12 at the line. He was 7 of 7 from the field and scored 21 in a win over Western Illinois that took place in the 2019 portion of the 2019-20 season.

Durham also scored 19 points and was 6 of 9 from the field in a 2020 win over Providence. One year later, Durham was playing for the Friars.

When Mike Woodson took over as coach after Miller was let go following the 2021 season, Durham was one of three players – Armaan Franklin and Jerome Hunter were the others who had played regularly – who took their talents elsewhere.

Durham continues to play professional basketball in Europe. He currently plays for Girona in Spain, averaging 9.9 points per game.